Singapore Picks Up More iPhone Carriers

While iPhone users stateside are stuck with just one lousy carrier, the
FAIL-tacular AT&T, Apple's choice to make a handset that fits a
broader global audience means other countries get more service options.
This monopoly deal has been a bad deal for consumers -- and arguably a
bad deal for ol' Ma Bell.

Previously, only SingTel offered the iPhone in Singapore, and as such set their prices accordingly. With an array of monthly prices and various levels of data caps, SingTel could also charge users more for the iPhones themselves. Pick a pricier, higher-capped plan and get a better initial out the gate subsidy on your phone.

Now two new players to the iPhone market in Singapore, Mobile One (M1) and StarHub, are bringing a little competition to bear. The difference in monthly prices aren't astounding, the low end for M1 going for $36 (Singapore, approximately $25 American) while StarHub bumps that up two dollars and SingTel bumps it three. At the high end, M1 will set you back S$198 while StarHub and SingTel max out at S$205.

Image Source: M1.com.sg

No, the real story in Singapore is the difference in data rates. Low end M1 gives you 10GB per month and unlimted with the high rates. StarHub goes 12GB and unlimited. The real tight fist here comes with SingTel's offering. A measly 500MB at the low end and a miserly 3GB of data downloads at the high end.

With these two new players in town, look for SingTel to seriously bump their data rates just to remain competitive. Users may stick with a familiar company they've always done business with, even at a cost of a couple bucks extra a month. But SingTel shouldn't expect their customers to stay loyal to such a tight grip on their data usage at extra cost.

Comment

As you anticipated, Singtel has matched Starhub's 12GB min and unlimited max data quotas. Data charges are also capped at SGD 30 per month (~ USD 25).
The best part is that Singapore being a tiny island has fast and pretty much universal 3G coverage across the whole country. An iphone-niac's heaven! Now bring on the iTablet!!